The Shamrock Shake is Back for a Limited Time? C'MON!: James Franco and Mila Kunis en route in OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL.

Another film that answers questions we didn’t ask, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is a prequel showing how the magical land over the rainbow got its formidable-but-all-too-fallible wizard. Director Sam Raimi makes his 3D debut in this big-budget project, recruiting James Franco as his soon-too-be Oz, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams as a trio of witches good and wicked, and Zach Braff and Joey King voicing some of the kingdom’s more magical inhabitants: a flying monkey and a China girl. Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons bought a round-trip ticket to this fantasy world, and are back to discuss whether the newer actors live up to their original counterparts in 1939’s THE WIZARD OF OZ, if the CG-enhanced visuals add new grandeur to the predecessor’s production design, and if the entire experience is more like a wild ride into a tornado or a soporific stroll through a field of poppies.

Also: Steve gives his opinion of THE ABCS OF DEATH, and what’s coming to theaters next week.